Chapter 1 001: Iceman
1992, Bullock High School, Jonesville, Louisiana, USA.
Roger looked at the high school teenagers with different skin colors and smiling faces in front of him, and finally accepted the fact that he was really about to experience his second puberty in the United States in the 1990s.
Just two days ago, Roger was an ordinary office worker.
After working diligently in the company for many years, he watched helplessly as an intern who often made mistakes became a team leader not long after he became a full-time employee. He stayed up so late that his hairline receded, but he was still a junior employee.
Later he found out that the intern was not without strength, but his strength was different from ordinary people - his uncle was the chairman.
At that moment Roger understood, are you good at curling? It's useless to know how to roll. When you come out to hang out, you need to be powerful and have a good background.
That night, the intern posted on WeChat Moments and posted a screenshot of the Xiaomi Mi Su7 that he had ordered, and the price was reasonable.
Looking at the car's price of more than 200,000 yuan, I had worked hard for many years to buy the Emgrand through frugality. Roger really wanted to ask, why?
Sometimes, Roger really hopes that all work is like playing basketball. If it works, it works, and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t work.
Even if you are Bronny, the natural choice, if you were a mess in college, you will not have any draft prospects.
Even if you are Jordan's eldest son, your performance of scoring 58 points in 59 college games will not be ignored just because your father is Jordan.
What matters is fairness, justice and openness. If you have the ability, go up, and if you don’t, go down.
Roger turned off the phone screen and thought of his boyhood dream again. It would be great if I could get a chance to become a professional player.
At least, professional players don’t have to worry about next month’s rent.
At this time, Roger remembered that the Fantasy Team mode of the NBA2K game had updated new free player redemption codes today.
This time, after entering the code, you can get a star card of "Iceman" George Gervin.
Roger excitedly opened the computer and entered the code. As soon as he pressed the Enter key, his vision went dark.
Then, he returned to 1992, arrived in the United States, and became a high school student who was about to start his senior year of high school.
For fans, they often like to use basketball to measure time.
Just talk about 1992, and it may not seem that long ago.
But if you think about it carefully, Jordan has not yet established a dynasty at this time, O'Neal has just become the number one pick, and EJ Jiang is still a boy.
And no one in the NBA makes a fuss about the historical total points.
Thinking about it this way, Roger could intuitively feel how far away 1992 was.
Logically speaking, Roger's dream came true, and he really said goodbye to his failed life in the past.
But the dream only half came true. His life was starting over, but Roger still had no idea how to become a professional player.
After traveling through time, as long as Roger concentrated, a line of words would appear in front of his eyes: Basketball talent to be activated.
But after waiting for two days, nothing happened.
There was no information panel popping up in front of him, no system for adding points, and no prompts.
The only thing he gained was a height of 1.93 meters and a wingspan of 2.08 meters.
Since he is only 17 years old, he will probably grow taller. Such a height and wingspan is certainly excellent, but this alone cannot make Roger a professional player.
After all, Roger's basketball skills are not even good on the wild court.
If Roger is 2.23 meters tall, he doesn't need any basketball skills to dominate the high school league.
But the height of 1.93 meters obviously cannot do this.
Roger decided to try it anyway.
Tomorrow is the day when the school basketball team recruits new players, and Roger wants to take a look. Maybe, you can find a way to activate your talent?
Just about the basketball team, Roger had some not-so-good memories in his mind.
After school, Roger returned home and his uncle Lu An was already making dinner.
Roger's biological father was a gambler and has been dead for a long time. His mother died of cancer many years ago, so Roger could only seek refuge with his uncle, his only relative.
Seeing Roger entering the house, his uncle immediately started nagging: "Xiaojie, work hard for tomorrow's game. You still have the last year of chance to get a college offer through tennis!"
At this time, Roger was on the school tennis team. Tennis was also one of the 13 major ball sports of the American College Athletic Association. So if you perform well in high school, you can rely on this to go to college.
Lu An, like most traditional parents, hopes that Roger can go to a good university. Tennis is Roger's best stepping stone. At least in Jonesville, Roger's ranking in tennis is quite high.
But after Lu An finished speaking, Roger said something shocking: "I have withdrawn from the competition. I will go to the basketball team selection at noon tomorrow."
Lu An immediately walked out of the kitchen with a surprised look on his face: "Quited? Why didn't you discuss it with me?"
"It's not like you don't know that I actually have no talent for playing tennis at all." Roger didn't lie. He actually didn't have any chance of getting a college offer through tennis.
Although he can rank in the top ten in Jonesville, when looking at the United States, this achievement means nothing.
It is very difficult to go to college based on sports skills. Take tennis as an example. Last year, only 7% of high school tennis players received college offers, and only 2% of high school tennis players entered the first-level college league.
Jonesville, a small place in the top ten, is obviously not among the 7%.
Lu An sighed: "Basketball has no chance. Have you forgotten that when you went to participate in the selection of the basketball team in the second year of high school, you almost died? With your three-legged cat skills, you still entered the school team? You must be able to enter the school Team, uncle, I’ll find an aunt for you right away! Stop messing around and go back to playing tennis!” Yes, this is Roger’s bad memory about the basketball team.
When Roger, a sophomore in high school, went to try out for the basketball team, he was slapped to the ground by the center of the second team for blocking a shot. The back of his head hit the floor and blood spattered on the spot.
Because of this incident, Roger became a celebrity in the school.
People may not necessarily know his name, but they all know that "the tallest Asian in the school is a complete soft-footed shrimp."
Roger's predecessor also suffered a psychological shadow because of this. Although he liked basketball very much, this incident made him very afraid of confrontation when playing basketball. In the end, he had to choose to play tennis because of this.
Roger knew that Lu An would stop him, so he looked at his uncle sincerely: "Uncle, if you don't have a dream, what's the difference between that and salted fish? I still prefer playing basketball!"
"I also have a dream. I once wanted to combine Shaolin Kung Fu with singing and dancing in the United States. I thought it would be very exciting. Then, I became a glorious car mechanic. This is the main reason why you don't have an aunt yet. "As he said that, his uncle took out a wrench from somewhere and waved it in front of Roger.
The corner of Roger's mouth twitched: "Hey uncle, I just want to play basketball, no need to be so exaggerated, right? Hitting a child with a wrench will have a great impact on the child's psychology."
"Don't be nervous. As a car mechanic, it's reasonable for me to carry a wrench with me. Hey, you should be careful about your kid going to the basketball team and don't break your head again. Okay, let's eat! "After that, Lu An put the wrench on the table and went to the kitchen to serve the food.
After the meal, Roger quickly returned to his room.
His room is very messy because the walls are covered with A4 paper.
It stands to reason that for children of this age living in the United States, their rooms should be filled with band posters or photos of female stars.
But on the wall of Roger's room, there were sheets of A4 paper.
Various basketball tactics are drawn on these papers, or training plans are written on them.
Roger looked at these notes and couldn't help but sigh about his predecessor's love for basketball.
When it comes to loving basketball, Roger is quite consistent with his predecessor.
It's a pity that love alone is useless. For them, professional basketball can only be a distant dream.
Unless, that damn talent can be activated!
The hot summer day and the distraction made Roger's mouth dry.
He was about to take a drink from the water glass on the table, but he was distracted and accidentally missed it, causing water to splash all over his crotch.
At this moment, Lu An knocked on Roger's door: "Xiaojie, I'm coming in."
Walking in, Lu An only saw Roger sweating profusely, his eyes blurred, and his pants were still wet.
We all have gone through puberty, and my uncle understood it instantly.
He quickly closed the door and coughed twice in embarrassment: "Hurry up and change your pants. Let's go play some ball. Let me see if your game has improved. By the way, don't read the messy magazines!"
Roger:? ? ?
No uncle, please don’t impose your hobbies on others, okay?
Speaking of which, Roger has never touched a basketball until now.
His mind was really messed up the past two days, and Roger was not in the mood.
So Roger quickly changed his pants and walked with Lu An to a street court near his home. At this time, the court was empty.
This course is very simple, even crude.
There were just a few simple lines drawn on the concrete floor, and the basket was stained with rust. The backboard, which was made up of rotten wooden slats, looked shaky.
Because the conditions are so poor, few people come here to play.
But in communities where poor people live, there are only basketball courts with this kind of condition.
The place where Roger currently lives can be described in one sentence: an extension of the sewer.
A lot worse than messy.
If you can't find a way to change, your life may be even worse than your previous life!
Lu An walked to the basketball court and shot a few shots. He is also a basketball enthusiast and a fan of Olajuwon, and he sneered at the new No. 1 pick O'Neal.
His evaluation of Shark was: "A stupid big guy who hasn't even made it to the Final Four."
Luan's third shot bounced off the rim and into Roger's hands.
The moment Roger touched the basketball, he stayed in place as if a restraining spell had been cast on him.
Because at that moment, a new line of words appeared in front of his eyes!
"Iceman George Gervin's basketball talent has been activated."
After a brief moment of surprise, the blood all over Roger's body began to boil.
The benefits have finally arrived!
You only need to touch the basketball to activate it. The star card in the game can be redeemed for yourself!
Lu An shouted, interrupting Roger's excitement: "Why are you standing there? Shooting. Let me tell you, Xiaojie, if you can't beat me in a one-on-one challenge later, don't go tomorrow." The school team is in disgrace, let’s just go play tennis!”
Roger smiled slightly: "Uncle, you are showing your shame!"
(End of chapter)